Kume gets hitched, Kawasaki begins rehab

Apropos of nothingright-handed reliever Yuki Kume is set to file marriage papers with a Haruna Horiuchi. The two have been living together and the papers are apparently going to be filed on Monday.

The newest member of the Hawks, Seiichi Uchikawa, decided to switch back to bats made of white ash, the kind of bat he used when he hit .378 with Yokohama in 2008.

Baseball-related newsMunenori Kawasaki continued his rehabilitation from right elbow surgery. He began baseball activities on November 28th, and has increased his throwing distance to 30 meters.

Three players re-signed with the team on the 5th: Nagisa Arakaki, Satoru Morimoto, and Takehito Kanazawa. The only one who got a raise out of the three was Morimoto, who saw his salary increase from 11 million yen ($133,000) to 21 million yen ($253,000). For his efforts this season, Kanazawa saw a one million yen drop in his salary, to 25 million ($301,000).

Arakaki saw another noticeable drop in his salary as he failed to pitch above the ni-gun level for the second straight year. The right-handed starter went down 16 million yen for a 2011 salary of 48 million ($579,000).

Finally, speaking of re-signing players, Takahiro Mahara is going to bring a lawyer with him to the salary negotiations, another example of a Hawks player dissatisfied with the direction the Hawks are taking. Apparently, Mahara is bringing former Yakult Swallows catcher Atsuya Furuta's old lawyer, Jo Kawazoe, along.